Monday night was the NHL Draft Lottery and a number of teams were anxiously awaiting the results of what the lottery balls would reveal. “Aside from the Stanley Cup, it’s the most game-changing night on the NHL schedule,” Elliott Friedman remarked before the results of the draft were revealed. For a number of franchises, this was especially true this year.
With the first overall pick, it was announced that the Chicago Blackhawks would be the team that would have the opportunity to craft a generational talent in Connor Bedard.
Bédard was asked prior to the enlistment if he was nervous and indicated that he was excited rather than tense. He was asked who he idolized and Sidney Crosby answered. When asked what he found most impressive about his game, he noted that it was a bit difficult to give his scouting report, but said it was his drive and desire to improve that was what he was most proud of.
The Anaheim Ducks had the best chance of winning the lottery at 18.5%. Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks.
No. 16 went to the Calgary Flames. This means no change to the bottom of the ranking. No. 15 went to the Nashville Predators. No. 14 went to the Pittsburgh Penguins. No. 13 went to the Buffalo Sabers. Again, there is no change yet in the order and place these teams will choose.
12 overall in 2023 he went to the Ottawa Senators. The pickaxe moves to Arizona as a condition of Jakob Chychrun’s trade. No. 11, he went to the Vancouver Canucks. This resulted in Bédard’s hometown team being dropped from the race. No. 10 went to the St. Louis Blues. No. 9 overall went to the Detroit Red Wings. No. 8 went to the Washington Capitals. No. 7 went to the Philadelphia Flyers. No. 6 went to the Arizona Coyotes.
In the top five, there were many happy teams in such a deep draft. However, everyone wanted No. 1. The Montreal Canadiens got No. 5. And No. 4 went to the San Jose Sharks.
Going into the commercial break, the top three remained unchanged. It will be a mixture of Anaheim, Columbus and Chicago. There was some confusion in the announcement because it appears that host Kevin Weekes said Columbus was out of the lead. However, the card flip was not shown, so it was hard to tell if this change was actually official.
Returning from the break, it was confirmed that the leak had occurred as the Blue Jackets fell to No. 3, Anaheim finished second, and the Chicago Blackhawks were the winners of the 2023 Draft Lottery. The question now is what the Blackhawks intend to do to build around Bédard. They were one of the few teams that didn’t really have a lot of young chops that had a lot of raw talent and would fit in really well with Bedard from the start.
Next up: Aggressive trading bids coming to the lottery winning team Conor Bédard